Palladino: Always a crowd at the R&A

BY JOE PALLADINO
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

Another R&A golf championship is in the books. This was the 83rd for the little tournament that could, that did and will do again.

The 84th Connecticut Open begins play in two weeks at New Haven Country Club. The 116th Connecticut Amateur was at the Country Club of Waterbury this summer. The Republican-American championship is the state’s third oldest event. Let that sink in.

There were 33 players this year. That’s not good enough. In a few cases, players advanced to the R&A championship with only two match victories. It should be a tougher road.

The R&A always shines brighter when Rudy Hermstadt and Tommy Dorso are in the field and play in the final. Golfers around the state often chide me about the R&A, but may I repeat yet again: With the exception of the Travelers Championship, of course, more spectators watch the R&A final than any other event on the golf calendar.

Let that sink in, too.

A gallery of more than 100 came out Sunday at East Mountain Golf Course, and not just to watch Rudy and Tommy. They buzzed around the course to watch Mike Kulla and Bill Conlea in the first flight, and Stephen Barbieri and Bob Holt in the second. That is always the case at East Mountain. As golfers complete their Sunday rounds at The Mountain, they grab beverages and turn around the carts to cheer on the finalists.

The state’s most prestigious events could only hope to have as many spectators. It does one proud.

A few observations from the 83rd R&A:

For the first time in a long time, not one golfer complained about the city’s two courses. They complained about everything else, but not the courses. There is a reason: Chris Mauro has done a sensational job.

Now in his second season as the city’s course superintendent, Mauro has made a difference. Both The Hills and The Mountain look superb.

As a non-golfer, the first thing I noticed was that the courses are cleaned up. Tree-line debris is gone. The courses are tidy. Golfers spend less time looking for a ball that is one hop off the fairway. It just looks nice, plain and simple. There has been tree work done. Branches are down or cleared.

The course is green too, really green. It isn’t just a benefit of the weather. Grass is growing. You always play winter rules on a city course. You can roll the ball over to get a decent lie. But at the R&A there wasn’t much rolling over. You really can play the ball where it lies, on almost every shot. The bunkers are in better shape and greens are near perfect.

If you avoid the city courses because that is what you do, then you should come back and take a look.

Another great idea heard at the R&A: Give out-of-town golfers the city discount for the R&A.

Absolutely, spot on.

Bring back the players from the ‘burbs. If you can add a half-dozen guys by offering a discount, well, just do it. That’s more rounds, more carts, more lunches and perhaps a future regular. Maybe non-resident discounts could extended to other special events.

We have hoped that a junior tournament could one day be part of the R&A. The area’s top juniors tend to be the kids at the private clubs, but with the right deal a junior tourney could fly here. If you want to promote and grow the game, this is how.

I am sure that the great people at The First Tee of Connecticut would love to partner-up on a one-day, 18-hole stroke play Junior R&A or Junior Mayor’s Cup.

The format change this year seemed to help. The tournament was completed in about five weeks with flexible match schedules. Did that attract players? Hard to tell. The only comments I heard supported a firm match schedule.

Tell Jimmy Dean at Western Hills and Scott Dalesio at East Mountain what you want. This is your tournament. They will listen. They will modify the R&A to suit the needs of area golfers for 2019, and beyond, well, well beyond.

Send comments to jpalladino@rep-am.com, and follow on Twitter at @RAOffTheRecord.